


Parting Shot

by perspectivesinpaper



Category: Leverage
Genre: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. References, Gen, Implied Parker/Hardison, Parting Shot, Raw work, Spy's Goodbye
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-04
Updated: 2016-04-04
Packaged: 2018-05-31 06:56:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6460300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/perspectivesinpaper/pseuds/perspectivesinpaper
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They've never really been the ones for words and emotions. They understood each other like that. Maybe that's why, while it gutted her, she understood why he's gotten tired of catching her all the time and having to let her go.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Parting Shot

**Author's Note:**

> The feels of that scene in AoS and the gravity of a parting shot really got to me. And then this happened.

It was innocuous to most. A filled shot glass being placed on the table in front of her by the waiter. From a friend, they said. But all of the sudden her chest tightened. Because she knew.

Parker didn't have to look up to know where the glass came from. Who sent it to her and why. She's been seeing the signs of what was coming. He's been pulling away more, shutting down the connection that they used to share so easily with each other. Deep in the recesses of her mind she's been expecting this. She's been pushing the notion away because it couldn't be. Because he wouldn't. And she’s been thinking, wishing, hoping, pleading that she was just imagining things. 

But then again dreading was a far cry from the crushing reality of what stood in front of her.

She felt something heavy slide down her cheek as her eyes began to blur.

She didn't want this.

Parker was never one for talking and emotions, to the point where people just sometimes assumed that she did not have any, but she does. Really she does. She's just been burned far too often to consider it a good thing. So she keeps everything tucked inside. Hidden and only for a few people to see.

He's the exact same.

But over the years she's allowed herself to open up again. To trust. Maybe even to love. Or at least to attempt to. She's loved Sophie and Nate as a mixture between doting parents and older siblings. Even when they left they still stayed close to her heart, because she knew that they would come back in an instant when she needs them.

And then there was Hardison. She felt strongly for him. Maybe even loved him. If that was what love felt like. He always made her feel normal. And that's a good thing. Right? Being normal is good. Foster parents wanted normal children. It used to be her only goal. Being normal means no one will look at you like there was something deeply wrong with you. Normal is good because it means that you're accepted. You're appreciated. 

She's always wanted to be normal and Hardison gave her that. And for that experience she would always be grateful. Maybe even indebted to him. But a part of her, a bigger part of her that should would like to admit, thinks that maybe she would’ve been fine without ever being normal.

She pulled her hands away from the table and pushed her chair away, using more force than was necessary in putting as much distance between her and the offending glass as possible. Not caring about the looks that she gained from her rapid movement.

But him? He always just understood her. Took her as what she was. Accepted her and all her faults even though it often sounded like he didn’t. He never tried to change her.

She was crazy. She runs towards a precipice with no hesitation before she leaps for the rush of it, maybe it's called reckless. She was Parker. And she trusted him above all else to be there to catch her. And he was fine with that.

Because he was crazy too. He will run head first towards any situation despite the danger, people say he's brave. He was Eliot. And he's gotten too tired of catching her and having to let her go. 

And she knows that if she took this shot he'll release her one last time and she'll never catch wind of him again.

She raised her head to meet his gaze, never having to search the room because she never had to work on where to find him. She just always knew where he was. She had always been drawn to him like a moth to a flame. And despite that fact she was never afraid of getting burned. Not with him.

He was sitting across the bar, his eyes boring into hers, a careful mask on his face. He was raising his own shot glass inconspicuously. On anyone else he appeared the casual, indifferent drinker, but Parker could see his hand's slight tremble as he tried to keep a hold on his composure.

A parting shot was what he called it. A final toast for words left unsaid and distance that has to be kept. She wasn't surprised of his intimate knowledge with this. Because in their business, his branch especially, with associates that are spies and high ranking military personnel, sometimes there's really too much risk to be seen with another person. Sometimes there's too much risk to getting too close for that one last time before finally letting go.

She steeled herself and grasped the glass, she didn't have long before Hardison returned from the bathroom. Eliot was the brave one. Not her. She was reckless. She lept off of towers and bridges blind with nothing but trust in her equipment.

She made her choice. And whether or not it was the right one was still up in the air waiting for a landing. So she took a few deep breaths, trying to get her chest to loosen up, before raising the glass and downing the shot at the same time he did. As the liquid burned a path down her throat she started to mentally close up her mind and her heart, willing herself not to feel the pain that was emanating from deep within her.

They stood still for the moment, letting the brevity of what happened settle, but then she blinked and he was gone.

Parker lived in absolutes. It was easier than having emotions stain everything gray.

**Author's Note:**

> Coming back to it, I'm happy with how this piece turned out. I just cleaned it up a little but it still remains wholly unchanged. Now as to whether or not there's gonna be an addition to the story is up in the air. I did just come out of hibernation. But I have high hopes. I have a profound love for these two.


End file.
